SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse-transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) is the most effective testing system available to combat COVID-19, given the absence of any specific treatment or vaccine. Moreover, numerous SARS-CoV-2 rRT-PCR kits have been approved under emergency-use-authorization (EUA) worldwide. In this article, we present a comparison of important performance features among five commercial RT-PCR assays. A total of consecutive nasopharyngeal (NPS) samples and oropharyngeal (OP) swabs were collected from 50 COVID-19 patients to analyze sensitivity and specificity. The results showed variations in sensitivity among all the RT-PCR kits examined. The Pishtaz teb assays demonstrated the highest positive percent agreement (PPA) of 95.2% (40/42), followed by Covitech (90.5% - 38/42), DaAn Gene (83.3% - 35/42), Sansure (66.66% - 28/42), and Power check of SARS- CoV-2 panel (64.3% - 27/42). Conversely, all five molecular assays demonstrated a negative percent agreement (NPA) of 100% (8/8). These findings provide a technical baseline for assessing the performance of five distinct commercial PCR assays for detecting SARS-CoV-2. They could prove practical and useful for laboratories seeking to purchase any of these assays for further clinical validation. Highlights ·Compared five COVID-19 RT-PCR kits approved and available by Iran Ministry of Health. ·Pishtaz teb's kit identified the highest number of positive clinical samples. Show less

This paper addresses broadly the impact that unprecedented levels of scientific discovery can have on the emergent global patterns that we observe in nature. An essentially ubiquitous pattern that is associated with large complex discrete systems is attributable to the Conservation of Hartley-Shannon Information (CoHSI). One of the manifestations of CoHSI in the realm of protein structure is a distinctive equilibrium distribution of protein lengths that is dominated by a power-law. Here we examine the manner in which the accelerated pace of novel protein discovery during the Covid-19 pandemic affected this distribution, showing that despite an initial disruption, nevertheless the equilibrium state was reestablished. Show less

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection often causes coagulation disorders that affect highly vascularized organs, such as the lungs and kidneys. Objective The objective of this study was to report the histopathological findings of variations in the fibrin pattern of pulmonary and renal microthrombi in patients who died from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Minimally invasive autopsies were performed on 40 patients to collect lung (n=40) and kidney (n=16) tissue samples. Histochemical and immunohistochemical staining techniques were used for histopathological analyses. Premortem laboratory data were obtained from the patients' electronic medical records. Results The lung tissue showed a patchy pattern, characterized by areas of both minimal and severe damage. The most significant histopathological finding was the detection of thrombi with fibrin structures organized into discrete star-shaped units, which were more frequently observed in areas with severe lung injury than in those with minimal lung injury (p = 0.012). Star-shaped fibrin structures were also observed in the renal glomerular capillaries. Immunohistochemical staining revealed the presence of platelets and the procoagulant proteins von Willebrand factor (VWF) and Factor VIII within the star-shaped fibrin thrombi. Patients with star-shaped fibrin thrombi had higher levels of the systemic inflammatory indicators C-reactive protein (CRP) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Conclusion Our observations suggest that the inflammatory microenvironment resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection may contribute to the formation of star-shaped fibrin units in the pulmonary and renal microthrombi. Show less